Another Adoption

We've had a lot of kids leave lately! So many, that I accidentally forgot one in yesterday's post!

Gracie was adopted by a Chinese family in Beijing, so she's now home with her new momma and daddy. We're so thankful she now has a family as well, and we're always so excited when we see local Chinese adopt.

Latest Adoptions

Brett joined his adoptive family on Monday, June 29. You can follow along with his adoption journey on his parent's blog!

Bess and Emily will both be joining their adoptive families next Monday. We've been saying many goodbyes lately... but they are the good kind of goodbyes!

Dr. Mom

Today we found Victoria playing in the sandbox in the backyard. She had carefully picked up several clumps of sand and gently placed them in a small cup. They were her "babies," and she proceeded to tell us all that she needed to do to take care of them...

She knew the little ones would get hungry soon, so she started by preparing jiaozi (dumplings) for everyone.

She told us that each of them were sick and needed to take heart medicine. She even knew the exact names of which medicines they needed to take! (All of them are medicines that she has to take, too.)

She explained that taking care of so many babies was a lot of work, and she didn't have much time for anything other than mothering these little ones.

Knowing that she had a lot more that she needed to do, we decided to let her get back to work...

Our Little Puppies

Yesterday we told the story about Adam pretending to be a puppy. Here's the proof. He and Addison make quite the pair!

Finding a Family

It’s true that his heart isn’t whole.

With a corrected VSD and a pacemaker, Adam has already fought many battles in his young life. But he has fought valiantly, and he has won. When you’re with this little guy, the scary details of his medical file pale in comparison to the joy that comes from knowing him.

With his adoption papers currently at Small World Adoptions, we’re looking forward to the day when his family finds him. And we know it will take a special family… one who is able to see past the clinical terms and complicated diagnosis and just see a precious little guy who needs a family. We believe this family is out there somewhere – they just haven’t yet had the chance to get to know and love Adam yet.

We want to change that.

Adam likes to suck his thumb. It’s almost always his right one. He doesn’t ball his hand up into a fist in front of his face, with his thumb poked in his mouth. Instead, he keeps his hand flat, with his palm resting on his chin and his fingers stretching around to his cheek. It's a cute little habit that is distinctly "Adam."

Adam pretends he’s a puppy. When he goes outside, he’s often on hands and knees, crawling around the yard. He tries to pick up toys with his mouth, and he comes up and waits to be patted on the head. We’ve stopped him from eating plants and other things he finds on the ground a few times… His game is so convincingly fun that it doesn’t take long until we have 4 or 5 other little puppies poking around the yard! It’s all fun and games until they decide to practice biting and chewing. Adam even barks and pants, but his “tough dog” game quickly ends when our real dog shows up! Though he imitates our pet Beagle, Adam has no desire to be on the same eye-level as the real dog. It’s quite an elaborate game, though the resulting grass-stained knees certainly cause some extra work in the laundry room!

Adam could spend all afternoon cuddled on your lap. He loves to be held, and he’s one of those little guys who doesn’t sit stiffly, carefully keeping a safe distance. He lets down his defenses and melts against you. He rests. He lets you love him. And in return, he loves you.

His heart may not be whole… but it is full. Full of laughter and mischief; of hope and love.

All he needs is a family to help make it whole.

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As fellow bloggers, would you help Adam find his family? If you are a part of a yahoo group associated with Chinese adoptions, maybe you can post this story there. Or maybe you’ll take a moment to link this story from your own blog. Adam’s heart condition is quite serious, and we know it will take a special family to adopt him… but with your help advocating for him, it isn’t impossible.

I Just Called To Say "I Love You..."

Technology is an amazing thing. Recently our older kids got a special treat - a trip up to the office for a Skype conversation with Lauren! Lauren volunteered with us for a year and recenty went home to prepare for college.

Victoria and Sophie were the most attentive - Sophie especially loved seeing Lauren's face on the screen and talking to her in a cute combination of English and Chinese.

Lauren even held up her family's dogs to the camera so the kids could meet them.

Emily took a few minutes to talk to Lauren but soon got distracted with the urge to cover my cell phone in tape.

While Brett was up in the office, he also took a few minutes to consult with us on our finances.

A Hard Day's Work

Jack can’t help it if he gets sleepy.

School wears him out, but it isn’t really his fault… First there are all those centers to play in – running up the stairs to the reading loft and experimenting with new dishes in the kitchen. Not to mention the coloring and cutting and pasting and glitter-applying. And then there are the goldfish that must be inspected and hammers that must be banged and beads that must be strung and the costumes that must be tried. Perhaps it wouldn’t end so poorly, but on top of all this, someone decided to wrap the whole morning up with snack time! You know what happens when busy little boys eat; they inevitably get sleepy.

And so it happens… every single day during music time (of all times), Jack falls asleep. When everyone else is “singing” at the top of their lungs, dancing, and clapping instruments, Jack is in the back row, quietly nodding off.

It isn’t really his fault.

If only things weren’t quite so busy, he could most definitely stay awake.

Ought Oh!

It's funny the things that kids pick up. Little Cameron isn't speaking much yet, but he was around one of our interns quite a bit for about 4 months, and he picked up some things from her. She would say "Ought Oh!" when Cameron dropped a toy or some other small mishap happened... not realizing just how often she said it until one time she heard Cameron trying to imitate her. "Ought Oh!" very well may be his first word!

The People Always Shout

We thought this little video of the kids singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" was too cute not to share. It has become one of the favorite songs in preschool, and the kids have so much fun with it--they seem to love the alternating quiet and loud parts. We all crack up when we watch them sing... I think you'll see why. Watch Peter steal the show with his adorable and enthusiastic premature start.